Veeva 2018 Summit Event Brief
By: Daniel R. Matlis, President
Introduction
“We are building the industry cloud for life sciences,” said Peter Gassner, president and CEO of Veeva during his keynote at the company’s summit in Philadelphia. “We want the industry and your company to be more efficient and effective – supporting your journey to improve and extend human life,” Gassner added.
The event brought together more than 1,400 life science professionals and experts showcasing the latest advancements for speeding product development in the industry.
Right Speed, Right Velocity
“Speed is one of Veeva’s core values,” said Gassner. I have a slightly different perspective. I took Gassner aside and explained that Axendia’s analysis of the company shows that Veeva is operating at the right velocity – not simply at high speed.
Unfortunately, our industry is ripe with examples where companies have adopted systems at breakneck speed – often to mitigate a regulatory finding, only to realize the application brought them in the wrong direction. Testament to the ‘right speed, wrong velocity approach’ are the multitude of QMS point solutions that were implemented as a reaction to 483’s and warning letters.
Veeva has been moving with speed in the right direction; working closely with their industry customers to provide mature, preconfigured out-of-the-box suites of unified applications on a single cloud platform that support key areas across the entire product lifecycle.
Veeva has become a strategic technology partner to more than 675 customers, ranging from the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies to emerging biotechs. Veeva is focused on customer success through its commitment to innovation and product excellence.
My interactions with industry executives at the Summit confirm that Veeva is enabling life science companies to realize the benefits of a modern, cloud-based architecture and mobile applications for critical business functions – without compromising on industry-specific functionality or regulatory compliance.
To learn how Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead and Sysmex America are using Veeva’s cloud for life sciences.
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In contrast to prior conferences, where the focus was on pulling the “Digital Thread” throughout the enterprise, the theme for this year’s event was 
FDA is leading the way in the use of simulation and modeling in the medical device industry. “Simulation is digital evidence, not made up stuff,” said Tina Morrison Ph.D., Deputy Director, Division of Applied Mechanics, OSEL, CDRH, U.S. FDA, during her keynote address on Day 2 of the Siemens PLM Industry event, hosted by Medtronic at their operational HQ in Minneapolis, MN.
For me, the highlight of the event was the collaboration between PTC and Boston Children’s Hospital on the use of augmented reality (AR) to help children with autism and related disorders communicate and learn more effectively.
